1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a surface coil for a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance apparatuses, in particular for the examination of patients via magnetic resonance tomography, are generally known from DE10314215B4, for example.
Modern magnetic resonance systems (also called MR or MRT) normally operate with multiple different antennas (also called coils in the following) to emit radio-frequency pulses for nuclear magnetic resonance and/or to acquire induced magnetic resonance signals. A magnetic resonance system frequently possesses a larger coil (what is known as a whole-body coil, also called a body coil or BC) that is normally permanently installed in the apparatus, as well as multiple small surface coils (also called local coils). In contrast to the whole-body coil, surface coils serve to acquire detailed images of body parts or, respectively, organs of a patient that are located relatively near to the surface of the body. For this purpose surface coils are applied at the point of the patient at which a region to be examined is located.
Surface coils for magnetic resonance tomography often are composed of multiple coil parts. For example, head coils or knee coils are typically divided into a lower part and an upper part for a facilitated entrance for the patient. These parts are attached during an MRT measurement to fix their position. Locking elements are, for example, latch levers that are borne such that can be displaced or rotated. The coil parts can additionally also possess electrical connections (realized by plug contacts, for example). In order to release these plug contacts upon opening the coil, ejection mechanisms are integrated into the coils. The operation of these movable coil parts is performed by the user of the MRT.